Apparatus for straightening articles that soften under heat



March 8, 1949. H. H. sNYDl-:R ET AL 2,463,650 APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENING ARTICLES THAT SOFTEN UNDER HEAT Filed March 24, 1942 4 sheets-sheet 1` mi ATTORNEYS March 8, 1949. H. H. sNYDER ET AL APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENING ARTICLES THAT SOFTEN UNDER HEAT Filed March 24, I942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORN EYS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 H. H. SNYDER ET A S FOR STRAIGHTENING ARTICLES THAT SOFTEN UNDER HEAT .JIL

APPARA TU March 8, 1949.

Filed March 24, 1942 ATToRNEYs H. H. SNYDER ET AL US FOR STRAIGHTENI THAT SOFTEN UNDER NG ARTICLES HEAT March 8, 1949.

, APPARAT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March .24, 1942 INVENTOR waff/yd Mw Lag/Z :dh/L ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 8, 1949 2,463,650 APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENIN G ARTI- CLES THAT SOFTEN UNDER HEAT Harold H. Snyder, Mount Lebanon, and Samuel A. Forter, Avalon,

Pa., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Glafent Corporation, a corporation of Maryland Application March 24, 1942, Serial N o. 435,974

9 Claims.

This invention is found in apparatus for straightening lengths of material normally rigid, but susceptible to softening by heat. practical appli-cation in the production of glass and the straightening of it according to my present invention.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. I is a view partly in plan, partly in horizontal section of apparatus in which and in the operation of which my invention may be realized. Fig. II is a view in vertical and longitudinal section of the same apparatu on the plane indicated at II-II, Fig. I. In Fig. II the broken line I-I indicates the plane indicated at view to like scale IV-IV, Fig. I. with Figs.

Fig. V is a I and II, showing Fig. VII is a View in section, on the plane indicated at VII-VII, Fig. VI. Fig. VIII is a fragmentary View on the plane indicated at VIII-VIII, Fig. VI. Fig. IX is an exploded view in side elevation of the ele- In an application for Letters Patent of the United States, led January 23, 1942, Serial No. 427,916, now Letters Patent No. 2,402,924, dated June 25, 1946, .owned bythe assignee of the invention herein described, there is described apparatus for shaping glass rod and glass tubing in continuous length; and in an application filed September 29, 1941, Serial No. 412,788, now Letters Patent No. 2,306,721, dated December 29, 1942, We have described apparatus for cutting to definite length glass rod and tubing so continuously produced, The lengths of rod or of tubing, after they have been cut, still require minute straightening, before they are ready for the market; and it is with the straightening that our present invention has to do.

In the apparatus of the invention, the desired end is accomplished by causing the glass article, when resting by gravity tangentially upon the surfaces of `two parallel and adjacently placed rolls, one of which and preferably both of which are in rotation to come to a temperature at which it loses its rigidity and becomes soft and slightly plastic; and, the rolls being straight, the softened article will under gravity straighten itself upon them. The operation is conveniently accomplished by causing the co-operating rolls and the article carried by them to advance through a furnace, and in the course of such advance rst bringing'the article from relatively cold and rigid state to a relatively hot and softened state, and then bringing it to cold and rigid state again.

As best seen in Fig. Il, an endless conveyor l, mounted on sprocket wheels 2, and driven by a motor 3, extends into, through, and beyond a furnace 4. The upper reach of the conveyor eX- tends in horizontal plane, and forms the semblance of a floor-a moving oor of the heating chamber of the furnace. The conveyor is composed of rolls 5 (cf. Figs. IV and VI), rotatably mounted at their ends in the links 6 of parallel and spaced apart chains. 'Ihe chains are engaged by the sprocket wheels 2, and thus the conveyor is driven. The assembled rolls at one end carry each a pinion 1; upon the furnace `structure a rack 8 is mounted; and the interengagement of the pinions with the rack eiects rotation of the rolls throughout the upper reach of the conveyor, as the conveyor advances. 'I'he rolls turn in uniform direction-clockwise, as seen in Fig. II. The direction of travel of the upper rea-ch of the conveyor is, as seen in Fig. II, from left to right. At the intake end the pieces of work G are fed one by one, to rest uponand between each roll and the next roll to rearward; and at the exit end the pieces are delivered one by one to suitable receiving apparatus.

The desiderata that the invention contemplates are afurnace chamberthat is tight, both to pretransfer is to another portion of that there is no loss.

The peak temperature is substantially at the mid point in the length of the `furnace. To that peak there is rise from the intake end; and from it there is descent to the exit. The peak temperature will be that at which the glass softens; it will be less than that at which the glass melts.

The motor 3 that drives the sprocket wheels and effects conveyor travel is advantageously a D. C. motor, and is energized from a squirrel-cage generator 35. The generator in turn is driven by an A. C. motor that is supplied from the Ausual electric supply line. By such provision constancy of speed of conveyor travel may be maintained, undisturbed by variations of current in the supply line.

In this furnace, by proper control of the burners and of the speed of conveyor travel we establish and maintain with uniformity heat conditions such as to bring the articles under treatment from room temperature to the desired peak and to allow them to cool again to a temperature at which they have become rigid, and to a temperature at which they may safely be returned to the open air.V

It is manifest that the essential characteristic of the material to which the apparatus is adapted is that it, normally rigid, softens under elevated temperature. Glass is typically such a material, and operation upon glass articles has here been manifestly, apparatus identically the stream, so

named. To articles of resin, for example.

We claim as our invention: 1. In apparatus comprising a furnace includcourses at their opposite ends and the upper reach extending through the furnace and providing a work-support; the invention herein described which comprises a lire box arranged at an interval above the conveyor and extending longitudinally of the conveyor and provided medially in its lower wall with an opening, means including burners directed through the opposite end 2. The structure of claim l, the fire box being provided interiorly with tunnels that extend from the end walls to said opening, and said burners leading through the end Walls of the fire box to the tunnels severally.

3. The structure of claim 1, the i'lre box being provided interiorly with tunnels that extend from the end walls to said opening, and said burners leading through the end walls of the fire box to the tunnels severally, the floors of the tunnels constituting partitions over which above and below the hot gas flows oppositely.

4. The structure of claim l, the fire box being provided interiorly with tunnels that extend from the end walls to said opening, and said burners leading through the end Walls of the fire box to the tunnels severally, together with burners in the side walls of the fire box leading to the mid portion thereof.

each a, cylindrical body axle, the cylindrical body being secured for rotation with but being movable axially of said axle, the furnace wall being slotted and the roll axle in the assembly extending through the slot, a sleeve secured to the axle and adapted to sustain outward thrust, a, pinion secured to the axle and adapted to sustain inward thrust, slotclosing plates borne by the axles of the rolls and held to slot-closing position between sleeve and pinion.

6. In apparatus for treating glass articles that includes a, furnace, and a conveyor for moving the articles through the furnace, the invention herein described which consists of a fire box arranged at an interval above the conveyor and extending longitudinally of the conveyor, the fire box being provided interiorly with tunnels that extend from 7. In a furnace having side walls formed with longitudinally extending slots, and an endless reaches interconnected in rounded courses at their opposite ends, the upper reach of said end less conveyor extending through the furnace and providing a, Work-support which extends at its opposite sides outward through said slots in the furnace side walls; the invention herein described comprising a succession of shields articulated to the opposite sides of said conveyor for angular movement relatively to one another as the conveyor advances through said rounded courses, said shields being adapted to move into alignment as said slots in the furnace side walls.

8. In a furnace having a side Wall formed with a. longitudinally extending slot, and an endless traveling conveyor having upper and lower reaches interconnected in rounded courses at their opposite ends, the upper reach of the said conveyor extending through the furnace and providing a work-support which extends on one side outward through said slot in the furnace side wall; the invention herein described comprising a succession of shields articulated to said side of the conveyor for angular movement relatively to one another as the conveyor advances through said rounded courses, said shields being adapted to move into alignment as the conveyor advances into and through said upper reach and cooperating with one another to form a substantially continuous baille that screens said slot in the furnace side wall.

9. In apparatus of the class described comprising a furnace including means for supporting work to be heated, and a re box having end walls, said fire box being arranged above said worksupporting means; the invention herein described wherein said re box extends longitudinally of the work-supporting means and includes tun, nels that extend from the end walls toward but terminate short of the middle of the fire box leaving an open mid-portion in the fire box above said Work-supporting means, and burnerv orices Ieading through the end Walls of the re box to the tunnels severally.

HAROLD H. SNYDER.

SAMUEL A. FORTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 565,576 Smith Aug. 11, 1896 Number Number Name Kauffeld May 2, 1916 Halversen- Nov. 13, 1923 Beasley Feb. 17, 1925 Baily Jan. 1, 1929 Fisk Feb. 25, 1936 Burke Aug. 16, 1932 Drexler Oct. 4, 1932 Carpenter et a1. Jan. 23, 1934 Morton Oct. 20, 1936 Slocombe June 14, 1938 Gardner June 29, '1943 Hahn June'13,`1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 13, 1927 

